Post navigation

On the charts

Checking in on Twitter tonight, there were all kinds of Billboard chart highlights for “Rocket Science.” Really good news!

For its first week on the Billboard charts, here’s the recap that I was able to find on billboard.com.

Top Rock Albums:#10 (This week’s top-selling albums across all rock, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music.)

Independent Albums: #4 (This week’s top-selling albums across all genres, sold via independent distribution, including those fulfilled via major branch distributors. Titles are ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music.)

Tastemaker Albums: #2 (This week’s top-selling albums based on an influential panel of stores comprised of independent retailer coalitions and smaller regional chains, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music.) This one is second only to David Bowie’s “Blackstar.” RS’s “Stripped Down” CD from last year debuted at #20 but was only on for one week.

Top album sales: #27: (This week’s top-selling albums across all genres, ranked by sales data as compiled by Nielsen Music.)

Billboard 200: #69 (This week’s most popular albums across all genres, ranked by album sales, audio on-demand streaming activity and digital sales of tracks from albums as compiled by Nielsen Music.) To track this against his other albums/CDs, see this. (This list lists the peak position of each CD, but not its debut appearance, so I’m not sure how it compares against past ones, as far as the first week on the charts.)

Through the years, he’s been on 13 different Billboard charts. I don’t typically follow these sort of things and don’t know much about it, but I’m surprised that “Songs for the End of the World” was only on the Billboard 200 chart for one week and “Venus in Overdrive” was only on the charts for two weeks. What?!

The last time he was on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, after several years on it, was for “Rock of Life” in 1988. That chart measures radio airplay, sales data and streaming data. “Rocket Science” has so many great songs – at least one of them should be able to end this nearly 30-year hiatus of him being on the Hot 100 chart!